A Moment to Breathe
by BraveSeeker3
Summary: Bite-sized drabbles and bits about my OC Fireteams and other Guardians associated with them. I wax poetic a lot. *REWORKING SUMMARY* Also available on AO3 and Quotev under the same title. Most recent chapter: A Warlock and a Hunter meet in a bar. No romance, just talking.
1. Legend

**Hello!**

* * *

A Hunter stalked down a familiar path, paradoxically winding up a mountain to a high plain. A wisp of smoke drifting up in the distance. All was silent. It was not right. _Well, Guardian?_ A new installment for your Legend.

Cold was the Titan's first sensation upon waking. Steely blue eyes flickered open, beholding his Ghost. _Here we go, Guardian_. A chapter in your Legend has ended and a new one begun.

Amidst a sea of red sand, new life burst into existence. A newly revived Guardian, confused; her mind a whirlwind of thoughts. _Eyes up, Guardian_. It's time to write your Legend.


	2. Teachers and Students

**Since the first one was short, here's more**.

* * *

 _She breathes in; breathes out_. Pulls the trigger. The bullet flies true, and buries home in its target. "You have done well." The Hunter acknowledged her mentor's compliment, focused on the Fallen patrol that was blissfully unaware one of their own was dead. "A shame that you would be leaving me. . ."

The younger turned to the elder, raising an eyebrow under a gifted helmet. "The City needs all the help it can get. You are too stubborn to go, old man, so I might as well."

 _Another place_. A precious gift given - "Keep it safe for me, alright? And make good use of it" - shared in confidence and trust.

From teacher, to student. "Come back in one piece, you hear me?" A gray jumpship blasts away, carrying one to his fate. Another left, with hope in his heart and a legacy in his hands, awaiting faithfully for a return. . .

 _She wishes she could scream_. Mind's eye view she could see her mentor - her friend - defenseless against the Cabal soldier, one giant foot raised to crush him; in a Darkness Zone it was a dire situation. Her Ghost hovered above her inanimate body, gathering her Light to revive her.

But she could not wait. He was in danger! And it demanded action! A flame bloomed in her soul, gathering - bursting - with the heat of a Light she'd never felt so intimately.

She emerged in a blaze of Light, with wings of fire and a heart undaunted.


	3. Peanut Gallery

"The one thing we don't need are comments from the peanut gallery." Arca gave Aivi a meaningful glance.

The newborn Warlock wilted under the gaze of the Hunter a hundred plus years her senior. "Sorry. . ."

Church snorted in amusement, and Arca whirled on him too. "And no backseat driving from you either, little light!"

"But that's the best part!" exclaimed Arca's Ghost, who spun in circles around the holo projection.

"Not for me, it isn't! Next time -"

Arca's brother, a Titan named Ajax, coughed politely to steer the conversation back on topic.

* * *

 **Yes, this is short. Does it read as unfinished? Probably. Will it get a second/third part? Maybe. It does give my girls (and guy) their names, along with Church's. Aivi's and Ajax's Ghosts will be introduced later.**


	4. Finality

**Back to the serious again, I'm afraid.**

 **TheChocolateCake: "I'm not an AI, I'm a Ghost!" ^^ Also, Teacher-dude is now his official nickname.**

* * *

She tears the cloak from her fallen adversary, taking it as a spoil of war and as an act of vengeance.

The Hunter presents it to her Vanguard, gifting it as proof of its bearer's demise.

A moment shared, to briefly wallow in grief for a lost friend avenged.

* * *

He stands on the wall, looking out over the horizon - the wild ground beyond the City. Helm in his hands, purple chroma glowing; reminding him of a promise made and a final glimpse.

The Titan has heard the whispers; from Warlocks to Hunters to fellow Titans to the few non-Guardians in the Tower. That he waits for someone who will not return. That he lingers in the past.

It is true; it is not. He knows the Bright Crusader will come back. And he knows he must always be moving forward.

* * *

She is still reeling from the rush of Sol Light. The Radiance fades away, and the young Warlock cannot keep herself steady.

She, of amber eyes and black hair, of the Guardian who had struggled with the Void, had found her song. And oh, it was glorious. Melancholy chords had hummed through every corner of her being; and she had _known_.

She had rushed towards her mentor's aggressor, golden Light fueling her strides. A grenade formed and was thrown; a pulse of flame flashed and burned and writhed around the Cabal soldier, who was incinerated from the Firebolt.

She was shaken out of her reverie, by the call of her mentor, now having been revived by his Ghost. "Aivi!"

* * *

 **So I headcanon that every Sunsinger has a song that they hear during Radiance that tells them about themselves with just music. Aivi's is _Solace_ from the Halo 4 soundtrack.**


	5. An Echo On the Mind

**Special announcement at the end of this chapter! ^^**

 **TheChocolateCake: Yay! :D**

* * *

She sees him in the shadows, in the corner of her eye. He lingers amidst the dark of her quarters, the eye sockets of his skull helmet flickering with a sickly Hive-green flame. He taunts her, wordlessly, silently asking her to take the plunge. . . into the Darkness.

To be bereft of sanity.

He can't force the young Warlock, though he can sway her. But Mira's constant, comforting presence, and Aivi's mastery of Sol Light, keep her steadfast whenever he appears (for she can only see him when she is alone as alone can be) and Aivi is unsure if he will ever truly disappear.

But then she knows he would haunt someone else - a fellow Raider, perhaps, or a newborn Guardian, maybe even give a false vision to some Thanatonaut. If that is within his power. . .

But she can't take the chance, so Aivi dons her helmet and does her best to ignore the once-Guardian (a spirit, a remnant, a shade, a phantom).

. . . _PRAISE ME_. . .

* * *

 **I'm actually really happy with this. Finishes nicely and I get to introduce Aivi's Ghost! Also, the Raiders mentioned are no one particularly special. They're two fireteams that do the Raids.**

 **And now, for the announcement you've all been waiting for. . .**

 **I've started up a Destiny forum! It's just a forum meant for us Destiny fans to talk with each other on this site outside of our stories and PMs. If you want to create a topic, go ahead! There's already some. Spread the word - the more the merrier!**

 **Here's the link~**  
 **forum/Welcome-to-a-World-With-Light/214664/1/0**

 **For those who may not know~  
* Thanatonauts are Guardians (primarily Warlocks, though it may just be Warlocks) who repeatedly kill themselves in a variety of different ways just to experience visions.  
* . . . PRAISE ME. . . is the flavour text for the exotic Warlock helmet The Ram.**

 **Pronunciation~  
Aivi: Ayvee**


	6. Couldn't Defeat My Pinkie Toe!

**Introducing: Marley, Sunbreaker Titan! . . . In training, at this point.**

* * *

 _Thump_.

"Again."

 _Crash_.

"Again."

 _Bang!_

"Ugh!" On his back, limbs splayed and a frown upon his face, Marley wished he was back in his quarters. He prefered being stranded on Mercury over his current situation at this point!

His trainer slash sparring partner, Horus-12, leaned over the downed Awoken, and appeared to be amused at the continued failure of the Titan. "Up. Let's do this again."

Marley grunted, and sat upright. "We've been here the whole day. Can we stop?"

"Not until you take me down," the senior Sunbreaker replied. "If you can't do that, then you can't hope to take down a Goblin."

"If I come across a Goblin, I'll just use my Hammers."

"What if you can't use your Light? What then?"

Marley was quiet; he didn't have a response for that that wouldn't give him a knuckle sandwich, either from Horus or another Sunbreaker.

Exos couldn't smile, but it certainly seemed like Horus was. "That's what I thought. Up. We're doing this until you succeed. Right now, you couldn't defeat my pinkie toe."

"I thought Exos didn't have toes. . . ?"

"You know what I meant."

* * *

 **Poor boy. :D**


	7. Questions and Answers

**Since this is the seventh chapter, I wanted to do something special - cos, y'know, seven is Bungie's favorite number.**

 **Much earlier, before I wrote this (just finishing proofreading and it's past three AM Monday morning, August 13th - yes I am up late), I had discovered the Hanahaki disease, and was inspired by one aspect of it: Unrequited love. Here, it's nothing special, and Theron isn't coughing up flowers (no, sirree!), but it deserves a mention.**

* * *

"Tevis?"

"Yes, Theron?"

"Let's say - hypothetically! - that you had a crush on somebody. How would you go about telling them. . .?"

Tevis paused from his task of armour cleaning, and turned back to look at his apprentice. "Is that really a hypothetical question or is it a strange way of getting girl advice, boy?"

The hybrid didn't meet Tevis' eyes, and awkwardly went back to mending a tear in his jacket.

"I'll take that as the latter. Theron, if there is a girl that you like, you should tell her. You never know when it might become too late."

". . . Okay. Thanks, Tevis."

"You're welcome, boy."

* * *

 **Side note: We've passed 300 views! :D**


	8. Comm Conversations

**It's lonely up here in the top AN. . . :( Oh well. Enjoy this fluff!**

* * *

Arca grinned mischievously under her helmet, and her Ghost waited with cautious anticipation.

"Well I'd make a joke about 'I know nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing', but I don't think anyone would get it."

"I do," said Ajax, Church, and Roman simultaneously.

Ara groaned. "You dolts. . .

"Back again with the Weiss impressions aren't we, ice princess?" Tex's voice - transmitted over the comms by her Ghost, Leo - presented the Exo's first contribution to the conversation.

"Why do you guys keep calling me that?!"

"Because you give us opportunities and we can't resist," came Theron's light-hearted reply. No one but Zane could see his face, but the hybrid was smiling.

"UGH!" The others just laughed at the Awoken's misfortune, eager to forget their troubles. . . Even if just for one brief moment.

 _Let's just live day by day_  
 _and not be conquered by our sorrows_  
 _The past can't hold us down,_  
 _we must break free_  
 _Inside we're torn apart,_  
 _but time will mend our hearts_  
 _Move onward not there yet,_  
 _so let's just live_  
~ "Let's Just Live", by Jeff Williams (feat. Casey Lee Williams), from RWBY.

* * *

 **Anyone get the jokes/references I put in here? Anyone like 'em?**

 **Come on guys, I know you're reading this - tell me what you think!**


	9. Reports of My Death

**. . . Have been greatly exaggerated.**

 **Reviewer replies~**

 **Raph (ch 6): Well, I'm thinking some do, some don't. Poor Horus doesn't.**

 **Raph (ch 7): It'd be pretty crazy if that was the case. . . Tricked into eating flower arrangements. . .**

* * *

"Oh no - _Charm get out of the way!_ "

An Exo with black and red plating looked up at his fireteam leader from where he was standing in a pit, just in time to see a Spider Tank falling to his position. The Warlock swore and ran to safety as quickly as he could, but the tank fell fast and hard.

The last thing his teammates heard from him was a shout of " _Der'mo_!"

Fortunately or unfortunately, the Spider Tank had been destroyed upon landing, going up in flames and lighting the wood from a long abandoned and demolished village. The blaze spread quickly, and there was no sign of Charm-3, much to the worry of Titan Lynn and Hunter Calliope.

"Where is he? Do you see him?!" Calliope, or Callie as she was more often called, peered through the smoke and flames for a glimpse of her teammate.

"I don't know! That fire's too strong to walk through! We may just have to wait for the fire to burn itself out!" Lynn answered.

"But we can't wait that long! Charm needs help!"

Lynn grabbed the shoulders of her panicking teammate and shook her. "Get a hold of yourself, Callie! Panicking won't help us find him!"

The Hunter took a deep breath. "Right. Calm. Not panicking." She wrung her hands and stared at the fire, which was beginning to die down a little.

"What if he's dead?" Callie turned to look back at Lynn.

"Dead or dead dead?" The Titan queried.

"Dead dead."

Lynn opened her mouth to answer the anxious Hunter's question, but was cut off by another voice from behind. "Dead? Ha! I am alive, thank you very much."

"Charm!" The two Guardians whirled to see their third member standing before them, looking a little worse for wear as he patted out remnants of flames on his scorched robes.

Callie was relieved, but also had a question - "How'd you live?"

"I almost didn't. The wood was hiding an entrance to an old tunnel system below the village. I fell through the opening and some burning wood came in after me. That's why -" he brushed a charred bit of wood off his shoulder "- my robes are scorched like this." Charm crossed his arms. "Walked through the tunnels until I found a way up and came out to hear you guys talking."

"Uh huh. Glad you're all right, Charm."

"I am too," the Warlock answered. Ghost revival or not, dying to fire was a painful way to go. Even if he was an Exo.

* * *

 **Der'mo: Russian for s*****

 **If that's not correct, blame Google translate, not me.**

 **Also, this one shot was inspired by Charm's second line of dialogue, which I pictured him saying. I had created him and Lynn last night, refined them a little more today, and ended up writing something with 'em also today!**

 **Some help needed: None of their Ghosts have names or genders yet (which is why they weren't mentioned at all), and these three Guardians are part of a fireteam together that also doesn't have a name. Any suggestions are welcome!**


	10. We'll Be Okay

**Kill Uldren and the Barons for me, will ya?!**

 **Reviewer Replies:**

 **8Nch7: Hey, thanks! ^^**

* * *

The Awoken blinks at Lynn owlishly, uncharacteristically silent. "Hey."

"Hey." The Titan sits down next to the Hunter in her little alcove, which had a mostly unobstructed view of the Farm. "You doin' okay, Callie?"

"I don't know. Maybe. It's all so confusing now." Calliope stared at her hands, folded in her lap. Fingers twitch restlessly, like she wanted to do something but couldn't.

Lynn put her arm around the Arcstrider's shoulder and squeezed it. "We'll figure it out. We'll take back the City, get our Light back, find Charm, free the Traveler, and kill Ghaul. Not necessarily in that order, mind you."

A ghost of a smile flickered across Calliope's dark purple skin, and her yellow eyes sought Lynn's dark brown ones. She leaned into the Titan's one-armed hug, feeling just a fragment of peace with her fireteam mate here.

 _They just needed to find Charm_. . .

* * *

 **So! This. Um. Yeah.**

 **Lynn, Calliope, and Charm have a proper name for themselves now - Fireteam Kairos.**

 **Additionally, Lynn and Calliope's Ghosts now have names. They aren't mentioned at all here, though. You'll see their names when I introduce them - one next week, because I actually have another chapter finished for once!  
**


	11. Random Collection, No 1

**We're close to 650 hits for this! :D**

* * *

Ajax had finished his meal, and was now not so subtly trying to steal food from Arca's plate, who let out a huff after two minutes worth of his repeated attempts, and slid it to her brother. "Here you go, human garbage can."

Aivi watched the Titan practically inhale the food, now used to Ajax's near insatiable appetite after battles.

* * *

Not even the Exos themselves know how they came to be. As war machines? As peacekeepers? As a way for crippled people to live life fully again?

Tex-4 knows few things for certain. She wasn't always an Exo. She has memories she's pretty sure aren't her own. She was meant for battle. And that Leo's voice (but not Leo's voice, because he never sounded so cold) haunts her in the dark places of her mind.

* * *

Callie was finishing mopping up the remaining Fallen, and a smile crept on to her face as the Captain finally died. She didn't take any joy in killing them; it was what came after a mission ended that she liked.

With her newly received engrams and Glimmer piled semi-neatly at her feet, the Awoken's smile had widened.

Now came the part she liked (favourite, even!), and the same part her Ghost didn't particularly like but tolerated it.

Calliope snapped her fingers. "Beam me up, Scotty!"

Scotty the Ghost sighed. His Guardian did love her references.

* * *

 **If you get the reference regarding Leo (hint: Tex, memories), congrats! I won't mention what it's from because that will make it super obvious to anyone worth their knifles.**

 **As for Callie and Scotty, it should be pretty obvious what I'm referencing here. I love scifi but I haven't seen, read, or watched anything about it aside from some crossover fanfics on here.**


	12. No Worries

**Sorry for posting a day late! *awkward shrug***

* * *

"You seem a bit lost, Warlock."

Aivi blinked, fingers entangled with each other. She turned to her right to see a girl of fifteen with Hunter armour sitting next to her, with a large mug of dark amber liquid held securely in her small hands.

"I guess I am. New to -" Aivi untangled her hands and gestured at the air "- all this."

"Understandable," the Hunter agreed. She took a sip from her mug, then looked at Aivi. "How long have you been revived?"

"Two weeks."

" _Yikes_. At least I had a decade of training before I came to the City and had to deal with more rules you could shake a stick at. . ."

Aivi gave the Hunter a long look. She wasn't conspicuous; didn't really stand out, aside from her apparent physical age and height. Short brown hair and hazel-gray eyes. "I have to ask. . . how old are you?"

The Hunter gave Aivi a rueful smile. "I died when I was fifteen. Was first revived by my Ghost ten years before the Battle of Six Fronts." She held out her hand. "Name's Arca."

Aivi accepted the hand. "Aivi."

A couple minutes passed, in comfortable silence. Arca had finished whatever was in her mug (Aivi half hoped it wasn't alcoholic) and was now drawing in a little sketchbook she'd taken out of her pocket.

Aivi was watching an animated conversation between a pair of Exos sitting at the bar when a Ghost in a powder blue shell appeared, hovering over Arca's shoulder. "Arca, you've got a meeting with Ajax in half an hour." The Ghost reminded the Hunter.

She blinked, looked at the clock on the wall, then hurriedly put her sketchbook and writing utensils away. The young Hunter stood, flashing an apologetic smile at Aivi. "I've got to run. It was nice meeting you!"

Then Arca maneuvered through the crowd and disappeared through the door.

Aivi stared at the empty seat she once occupied. "It was nice meeting you too. . ." she said to the air.

That was Aivi's first encounter with the Hunter named Arca. It wouldn't be her last.

* * *

 **Just for the record root beer was what Arca was drinking**.


	13. A Birthday Celebration

**I'M ALIVE**

* * *

"Happy birthday," Ajax greeted his sister as she slid into the seat opposite his. "You're over two hundred years old today."

"Geez, don't say that. It makes me sound ancient!" Arca retorted, though not unkindly.

"Compared to some of the other Guardians? You are." The Titan leaned forward, a serious look on his face. "Did you hear about Xerxes?"

"The Sentinel who keeps disappearing off grid for weeks at a time? No."

"He showed up in the Vanguard Hall today, while I was handing in a report to Zavala; wanted to get information about the Devils' Lair. Sounded pretty insistent." Ajax frowned. "And upset. I heard him say things he never would've if he was calmer."

"Huh. I was out all day on patrols. And busy trying to stop Fallen from stealing the _Sweetheart_. Speaking of Zavala, he's still after me to get a third member for our fireteam. It's a bit annoying now, to be honest." Arca sighed. "At this point, I don't think he's going to stop until we get 'em or until he assigns someone to us. I'm almost desperate enough to find the nearest Guardian that doesn't have a team and make them a part of ours."

The Titan shook his head. "We're getting off topic. Xerxes has been acting weird for a while."

"Xerxes has always been weird," Arca pointed out. "He prefers being on the outside of the City rather then inside. I can count on one hand the number of Titans like that."

"Okay, weird _er_. For two decades he was really happy and then today he has a completely different attitude. Now Xerxes is trigger happy and seems to have a bone to pick with the Devils. A very big bone."

"Maybe he was seeing somebody outside the City and the Devils killed them?" The Hunter suggested.

Ajax stared at his sister. "That's crazy. I'm pretty sure there's no active villages or settlements outside the City anymore, aside from Cedric's."

"You'd be surprised." Arca pointed her knife at her brother. "And no, I won't tell you their names or locations. It's better for them to be kept secret; no one has a chance to entangle them in City or faction politics."

"Protecting their innocence?"

"Something like that. I'm sure you've heard the phrase 'don't keep all your eggs in one basket'. The more. . . let's say 'sources' of humanity there are, there's better chances for continued survival if the City is captured (or worse) by the enemy."

Ajax frowned. "They're vulnerable out there. Their locations are being hidden, no one will know where they are if they're attacked."

"Aha! That's where you're wrong, brother dear. A lot of the senior Hunters, like myself, know the settlements' locations and check in on them, see if there's any problems or needed supplies. We also escort anyone who wants to live in the City."

The Titan looked at his sister with an interesting expression. "Seems like a sophisticated operation."

"I wouldn't call it an operation." Arca waved it away. "A free service, more like. Titans protect the people inside the City, Warlocks keep our history safe, Hunters make sure the outside world is as safe as we can make it, that kind of thing.

"A lot of the people who live in those settlements prefer it to the City. Sure, it might be safer, but it's crowded and civilians aren't really allowed outside without special permission. Hunters understand the want to live freely - living by your own rules, without someone telling you that 'you're not allowed to do that'."

"I didn't know my sister was so philosophical," Ajax said, amused. "There's a lot you don't know about me. Now, how about this situation of finding a Guardian for our team?"

* * *

 **I'm so sorry! I got internet privileges taken away, then there were internet problems, and then my mom applied for a job in British Columbia and was accepted, so we packed and went on a time-crunched roadtrip across Canada (we had to get there before the moving truck) with our cat, who kept us up a lot of nights. . .**

 **Long story short, Real Life proved to be a stinking pit of rush, rush, rush.**


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